It is well known that boric acid is a very weak, inorganic acid and the borate ion does not exist as such until the pH is sufficiently high to react with more firmly bound second and third hydrogens. The borate ion complexes with many compounds, for example certain polysaccherides like guar and locust bean gum as well as polyvinyl alcohol. At a high pH above 8, the borate ion exists and is available to cross-link and cause gelling. At lower pH, the borate is tied up by hydrogen and is not available for cross-linking, thus gelation caused by borate ion is reversible.
According to Friedman, U.S. Pat. No. 3,800,872, if boric acid or borax is added to a 1% fully hydrated guar solution, the solution will gel. If, however, the procedure is reversed and one attempts to dissolve guar in a solution containing borax, hydration will not occur. The guar then appears to be water insoluble and no viscosity increases will be measured. The reason for this is that if the borate ion finds two or more guar molecules close together, there is a fair probability that it will link them together.
If, on the other hand, the borate gets to the slowly hydrating molecule before the guar molecules get close together to link, the intermolecular distances are too large to be spanned by the small borate ion. This causes the borate to use all its functional points to hook to one guar molecule shielding it from hydration. If a very dilute guar solution is allowed to fully hydrate and subsequently borated, the solution loses viscosity.
Another way in which borate ions form a complex is with a cis diol where two alcohol groups are on adjacent carbon atoms. If boric acid is added to a cis diol like glycerol, the resulting chelate holds the borate ion so tightly that the hydrogen becomes relatively labile. This makes a strong acid of boric acid. If a cis diol is added to a borate gel guar, the gel disappears because the diol attracts the borate more strongly then does the guar. Consequently, this aqueous gelling is a reversible process. Friedman goes on to discuss boric acid or borax as a cross-linker for aqueous flooding medium for an oil and gas reservoir.
Mondshine, U.S. Pat. No. 4,619,776, discloses that it is well known that organic polyhydroxy compounds having hydroxyl groups positioned in the cis-form on adjacent carbon atoms or on carbon atoms in a 1,3- relationship react with borates to form five or six member ring complexes. At alkaline pH's of above about 8, these complexes form dididols cross-link complexes. Mondshine goes on to state that such reversible reactions lead to a valuable reaction with disassociated borate ions in the presence of polymers having the required hydroxyl groups in a cis-relationship. The reaction is fully reversible with changes in pH. An aqueous solution of the polymer will gel in the presence of borate when the solution is made alkaline and will liquify again when the pH is lowered below about 8. If the dried powder polymer is added to an alkaline borate solution, it will not hydrate and thicken until the pH has dropped below about 8. The critical pH at which gelation occurs is modified by the concentration of dissolved salts. The effect of the dissolved salts is to change the pH at which a sufficient quantity of disassociated boric ions exist in solution to cause gelation. The addition of an alkali metal base such as sodium hydroxide enhances the effect of condensed borate such as borax by converting the borax to the disassociated metaborate.
Known polymers which contain an appreciable content of cis-hydroxyl groups are exemplified by guar gum, locust bean gum, dextrin, polyvinyl alcohol and derivatives of these polymers. Derivatives tend to react less with the borate ion as the amount of substituting group in the molecule increases. This results because of the sheer bulk of substituting groups changes the regular alternating and simple number branched linear configuration of the molecule and prevents adjacent chains from approaching as closely as before and a substitution of secondary cis-hydroxyl positions decreases the number of such unsubstituted positions available for complexing with the borate ion. As further pointed out by Mondshine, hydraulic fracturing is a widely used method for stimulating petroleum producing subterranean formations and is commonly performed by contacting the formation with a viscous fracturing fluid having particulated solids, widely known as propping agents, suspended therein applying sufficient pressure to the fracturing fluid to open a fracture in the subterranean formation and maintaining this pressure while injecting the fracturing fluid into the fracture at a sufficient rate to extend the fracture into the formation. When the pressure is reduced, the propping agents within the fracture prevent the complete closure of the fracture.
The properties that a fracturing fluid should possess are, among others, a low leak-off rate, the ability to carry a propping agent, low pumping friction loss and it should be easy to remove from the formation. Low leak-off rate is a property that permits the fluid to physically open the fracture and one that controls its areal extent. The ability of the fluid to suspend a propping agent is controlled by additions. Essentially, this property of the fluid is dependent upon the viscosity and density of the fluid and upon its velocity. Friction reducing additives are added to fracturing fluids to reduce pumping loss due to friction by suppression of turbulence in the fluid. To achieve maximum benefit from fracturing, the fracturing fluid must be removed from the formation. This is particularly true with the viscous fracturing fluids. Most such viscous fluids have built in breaker systems that reduce the viscosity gels to low viscosity solutions upon exposure to temperatures and pressures existing in the formation. When the viscosity is lowered, the fracturing fluid may readily be produced from the formation. Mondshine states that he has found that superior guar containing hydraulic fracturing fluids having enhanced thermal stability and decreased leak-off rate can be obtained utilizing 1/2 to 15 kilograms per cubic meter of sparingly soluble borate having a slow solubility rate to provide sufficient borate ions to cross-link the guar polymer, raise the pH, and provide a reserve of available borate ions to cross-link the polymer at high temperatures. Mondshine goes on to suggest that alkaline earth metal borates or alkali metal alkaline earth metal borates have unique solubility characteristics which enable them to be used in the control cross-linking of aqueous systems containing guar polymers. The rate of cross-linking can be controlled by suitable adjustment of one or more of the following variables: initial pH of the aqueous solutions system, relative concentration of one or more of the sparingly soluble borates, the temperature of the borates, temperature of the aqueous system and particle size of the borate. In the patent, the inventor further describes a series of sparingly soluble borates for use in fracturing fluids.
On occasion, it is desirous to temporarily seal or plug a permeable formation located in a subterranean oil and gas formation having a bore hole therein. This may be done for several purposes such as, for example, so that other less permeable zones can be treated in some manner, i.e. fractured, acidized, etc. Many methods and compositions have been employed for temporarily plugging or sealing the openings or passageways located in such formations. Nimerick, U.S. Pat. No. 3,766,984 discusses at length the use of gels such as cross-link polysaccherides, and Nimerick suggests the use of an aqueous slurring composition containing a portion of the constituents of a granulated composition comprised of a galactomannan gum which has been treated with hydrophobing agent to render the gum hydrophobic (less hydrophilic than normal) when disbursed in an aqueous solution having a pH of at least 7.5, a pH control agent and a water soluble organic polymer suspending agent. Optionally, a degrading agent for a hydrated form of the gum and/or a cross-linking agent for hydrated gum and/or hydration agents can be employed.
Skagerberg, U.S. Pat. No. 3,794,115 describes a relatively low concentration of polymer which can be pumped through the system without using excessive high pressure and goes on to list numerous polymers suitable for use in aqueous solutions for forming bore hole plugs and further suggests the use of borax glass as one of a number of cross-linking agents including antimony and chromic ions.